This invention relates generally to household wastewater process and more particularly to a closed purification and recycling system producing both potable water for cooking, drinking and dishwashing and water of appropriate quality for general household washing activities such as washing clothes and personal hygiene. The system includes an incinerator toilet to dispose of body wastes and to incinerate concentrated salts resulting from the distillation.
Conventional water supplies, used in a household for ingestion, dishwashing, washing clothes, for personal hygiene and for flushing toilets are purified to meet drinking water standards. This water is produced by muncipal water treatment plant or onsite wells. After being used once for any of the above mentioned purposes, the wastewater is collected in a common drain and flows, generally by gravity, either to a septic system or to a municpal sewage treatment plant where it is treated to remove pollutants and released to a waterway.
Purifying all water entering a family living unit to meet drinking water standards, including water for flushing toilets, for washing clothes and personal hygiene can be expensive and using it only once is wasteful. However, to be safe, all water to be used for cooking, drinking and dishwashing must meet drinking water requirements for purity and bacteria and virus disinfection as specified in this country by the U.S. Drinking Water Standards. Water for general household uses, such as clothes washing and personal hygiene, can be purified to meet body contact standards. Water suitable for body contact can be processed to meet the required level of purity for much less that the cost of purifying it to meet drinking water standards.
An incinerator toilet may be used to totally eliminate the need for processing water to flush toilets.
The overall effect of these changes in approach to residential water processing makes it economical to recycle the water used in residences by utilization of this water purification and recycle system. The system produces water of the appropriate quality for those activities relation to ingestion and those relationg to general household washing and personal hygiene.
In suburban areas where the current minimum building site size is determined by the area needed for wells and septic systems, the use of this water purification and recycle system will make it feasible to use smaller building sites than is currently possible since utilization of this closed loop water purification and recycle system eliminates the need to provide space for wells and septic systems.
The ground area currently required to accomodate septic systems with associated laterals and wells to serve residential units usually sets the minimum size for rural building sites when subterranean water is available and the ground is suitable for wastewater percolation. When either the water supply is inadequate or polluted and/or the ground is not suitable for percolation, the land currently cannot be used for residential building sites.
Many desirable building sites exist in this country and in many other countries, i.e., property on ocean shores, islands, mountanous regions or other attractive areas. However, much of this land is currently considered "unbuildable" because the available water supply is either polluted or inadequate and/or wastewater cannot be disposed of because the land is not suitable for utilization of a septic system or no municipal sewage treatment plants are located nearby. Much of this land would be useable for residential building sites if the water supply and wastewater disposal problems were eliminated. The purpose of the subject invention is to eliminate both of these problems by providing a water purification and recycle system with the capability of producing a continuous supply of water of the required purity to the occupants of single and multiple family living units. No wastewater will be discharged from the purification and recycle system; therefore, no wastewater discharge permits will be required.